FTC Sues Robocaller

By TChris, Section Law Related
Posted on Sun May 24, 2009 at 10:19:41 PM EST
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The FTC is going after a company that uses those annoying (and illegal) robocalls to market its extended vehicle warranties. The company -- Florida based Transcontinental Warranty Inc. -- wasn't easy to find. Employees are instructed not to disclose the company's name, and they're fired if they break that rule.

Fortunately, a former employee got fed up after only four days on the job and contacted the FTC. The information he provided corroborated customer complaints about the company's deceptive practices.

[more ...]

"I understood it to be an acceptable practice at Transcontinental to say whatever was necessary to get the consumer to divulge his or her credit card number," [Mark] Israel said in the court documents. "Telemarketers were only disciplined for disclosing Transcontinental's name."

In response to an FTC lawsuit, a federal court in Chicago imposed a restraining order on Transcontinental and froze its assets. That puts one annoying robocaller out of business -- at least until the owners resume their operation under a different name.

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FTC Sues Robocaller | 7 comments (7 topical)

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Thank God - I have been getting (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Anne on Sun May 24, 2009 at 10:41:36 PM EST

these annoying calls at work and at home, and mailings on a regular basis.

The first time we got one of those was maybe six months after our daughter bought her first car - one that I co-signed a loan for - and because it was a used car, and just about to come off the original warranty, we had bought the extended warranty for. Out of the blue come these dire warnings about the warranty, so of course, I called the dealer, only to find out about this scam.

Never ceases to amaze me the creative lengths these thieves can go to to steal money from people - if there isn't a special place in hell for them, there sure should be.

: Us too (none / 0) (#4)
by Militarytracy on Sun May 24, 2009 at 10:46:19 PM EST

Can you believe how hard it was to "find" the "company". My husband has a new one today that left a message on his phone.....something about healthcare coverage.

: I just got one of those calls (none / 0) (#5)
by Cream City on Mon May 25, 2009 at 01:43:18 AM EST

two nights ago -- not just that "the warranty" (we have none now) would be suspended but the registration would be suspended. And yep, as soon as I didn't play by the script but balked, by asking which car and what could they mean and then saying to my spouse nearby that it seemed to be a scam, I got the hang up. And as I'm on the no-call list in my state, the call was illegal in a couple of ways.
I have witnessed how these scams can scare and snare young students and older people, so I hope this is only the first of such cases to shut down these calls.

I'm surprised there isn't even more phone spam (none / 0) (#1)
by andgarden on Sun May 24, 2009 at 10:26:23 PM EST

I guess calling minutes are just expensive enough to prevent that.

I would absolutely be willing to buy into a pay email system if it would essentially end most spam.

it wouldn't. (none / 0) (#3)
by cpinva on Sun May 24, 2009 at 10:43:04 PM EST

ask people who pay for unlisted phone #'s and cell phone owners, they get phone spam also. what makes robocalling so economically viable is that all you do is plug in all possible numbers in a given area code, and let it go. the same thing applies for email.

nothing will make it too expensive, short of shooting the owners.

my clue that the call was a scam . . . (none / 0) (#7)
by pukemoana on Mon May 25, 2009 at 01:02:25 PM EST

our car's from 1989--way past 'extended warranty' date I reckon. I'm hoping desperately it keeps going till my youngest is out of daycare and then we can get a new (to us) one

oh and I'm in Canada so this was a North American wide thing

My only question is (none / 0) (#8)
by wagnert in atlanta on Mon May 25, 2009 at 05:06:24 PM EST

why did it take the FTC so long to move on these scams? I've been getting these idiot calls for six months. Did action have to wait till they spammed someone in the FTC hierarchy? Wait, I know -- the FTC finally acted when one of their brass hats tried to collect on their "extended warranty."